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Good morning, everyone! We had a 3-day weekend here in the states for Memorial Day, so I feel well rested and ready to take on the week. Thank you to everyone who serves – not only do you sacrifice almost everything to keep us safe, but you also inspire everyone to get outside, enjoy the sunshine, and barbecue – nothing wrong with that! Our friends Valerie and Tom asked us to stay at their apartment this week to take care of their dog, Mia, so Kramer and I happily obliged. We’ve been having a great time pretending to own a dog and making good use of their roof, where they have a grill. We can’t have a grill in our apartment – our balcony is way too small and I worry about dropping a hot coal on innocent pedestrians below, so we have gone upstairs to grill every night since we got here. Saturday it was beer can chicken and brats, Sunday it was burgers and asparagus, and yesterday, we smoked a brisket (recipe soon to come). Val and Tom also have an Xbox Kinect, and more specifically they have the Kinect Star Wars game, so we’ve been having fun playing with that, as well. Get me in front of anything Star Wars related and I immediately become a 10 year old kid. What can I say? It’s a lot of fun ~being the controller~. There are some photos of us goofing around over the weekend after the jump – I hope you had as good a weekend as we did!

I made these biscuits a month ago or so, and of course, have only got around to editing the photos and posting them now. They are my absolute favorite biscuits. The recipe comes from one of the best restaurants in Williamsburg, Pies ‘n’ Thighs. As you can see, it’s one very highlyrated little establishment, and rightfully so. Their fried chicken is insane, and their pies are out of this world, but their highest achievement, I think, are their biscuits. I have never had a softer, flakier, more buttery biscuit in my life than the ones I’ve had at Pies ‘n’ Thighs. I made these last year for Thanksgiving and could not wait for a reason to make them again. Kramer absolutely adores them, and while we enjoyed these with some butter and jam, they really shine when paired with a fried egg and, of course, bacon. These are not some tiny biscuits from a can – they are meant to be made into the largest biscuits you’ve ever had, and you know what? They should be! If you’re going to go to the trouble of making biscuits by hand, go all out and make them the biggest, baddest biscuits ever. You won’t regret it!

This is Mia, the dog we are watching for the week. I’m usually not a Chihuahua fan, but Mia changed my mind.

Me, cutting up a 15 pound watermelon.

Grill master, Kramer.

He makes a mean burger.

Enjoying said watermelon.

Enjoying some quality Mia time.

Kramer’s sister, Rachel, came by, too.

Rocking out to some Springsteen.

Playing some Star Wars Kinect – Han Solo was making them dance.

Kramer and I, pod racing (I won, obviously).

Your ingredients.

Pulse together your pastry flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Cube your butter and add it to the flour mixture. Pulse until coarse crumbs form.

Transfer the dough to a mixing bowl and add in the all-purpose flour.

Add in the cold buttermilk until a thick dough forms.

Knead the dough with the heel of your hand on a well floured surface for 5-8 minutes, until the dough is elastic and smooth. As a side note, I apologize for the dumb wristband that I forgot to take off from the concert I went to the night before.

Pat the dough out to 1 1/2 inches thick.

Use a 3×2-inch round biscuit cutter (or smaller, like I did) to cut out the biscuits.

Then place the biscuits on a baking sheet.

Brush the biscuits with the egg and cream mixture, then bake for 5 minutes at 425 degrees F. After 5 minutes, reduce the heat to 400 degrees F and bake for 20-22 minutes, until slightly golden and set.

In your food processor, pulse together your pastry flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt, then add in the cubed butter and pulse until coarse crumbs form. Transfer everything to a large mixing bowl and add in the all-purpose flour (I used my KitchenAid).

Add the buttermilk to the flour mixture and mix until the dough comes together, but do not overmix. Turn the dough out onto a very well floured surface and knead with the heel of your hand for 5-8 minutes, until the dough is elastic and smooth. To knead it, simply fold the dough over onto itself, push it back with the heel of your hand, and continue this process. When ready, pat the dough out with your hands to about 1½ inches thick, then cut the biscuits out with a 3x2-inch round cutter (or a 2x2-inch cutter, as I did), and place them on your baking sheet.

Whisk together your egg and cream, and brush the biscuits with it. Bake for 5 minutes, then reduce the heat to 400 degrees F and bake an additional 20-22 minutes, until set and just slightly golden. It is easy to accidentally burn the bottoms of the biscuits while the tops still look not quite ready, so be aware of that and check on them at 18 or 20 minutes before letting them cook further.

Allow the biscuits to cool before storing them. They will keep well for 3 days in an airtight container at room temperature.

That’s definitely the case. I work with a girl from Australia and she said the same thing when I brought my American version of scones in to the office one day, which were sweet and more like a triangular (or sometimes circular), dense version of a muffin. I wonder how they ended up with different names/meanings.

A friend of mine passed this link to your site a long time ago and I review almost religiously. I’ve become the ‘baker’ in my little group here in China after taking some homemade treats to all-day boring meetings.

I had to comment on these because a) it’s impossible to find buttermilk in China so I have to make it and that’s a lot ot ask from someone who is lactose-intolerant (pills aside), and b) I lived in Australia for almost a year and only toward the end of my time there was I introduced to what they called scones (being from Canada we call ’em biscuits too); they did one better on the butter and jam topping though. Whip up some ….well…whip cream (heavy cream I guess) and put a dallop on the jam covered biscuit. You don’t need to add vanilla to the whip topping either…just as is and it’s a beautiful bite.

15 lb watermelon?! Wow, I could never cut something that big. It would take forever!

And these biscuits? Man oh man, look at that mile high rise! Biscuits have been on my bucket list for so long but I think it’s finally time to tackle them this weekend. I just can’t resist how high they can rise!

Oh, now you’ve got me thinking about warm, flaky biscuits! I tend to stray away from biscuits, but your description makes me want to try them. And, no, i’m not just saying it, I really mean it! I would totally eat these with gravy. Oh, how i love gravy.

I looked at some of the photos of the food from this restaurant on yelp, and I must say that your biscuits look 10 times better! It could be the quality of the photo, but your biscuits look so soft, flaky, tall, and yummy!! I love making biscuits. They are so quick and easy to make. I use only one bowl, though. Congrats on these biscuits! I would love some with scrambled eggs, yellow cheese, and bacon. Goodness!

[…] I woke up and logged into Tumblr. I came across this Buttermilk Biscuits recipe from Crepes of Wrath. I checked to see if, by some lucky chance from the baking gods above, I had all the ingredients I […]

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